The present invention is directed to electrical component terminal connectors. More particularly, the present invention is directed to electrical terminal connectors that have a housing and a contact for use with tab-type terminal connections, such as those found on small or miniaturized electrical motors and like electrical components.
Typically, small or miniaturized electrical components such as motors have tabs or terminals extending from the motor housing that serve as terminations or connections for providing electrical power to the motor. These tabs are quite small and are typically sized as 0.080 or 0.110 inch tabs. That is, the dimension across the width of the each tab is about 0.080 inches or about 0.110 inches. The widths, as well as the thickness of these tabs does, however, vary depending upon, for example, the equipment manufacturer, the specific equipment or other factors.
The tabs are often formed having a small hole or opening for receiving an electrical wire. The wire is threaded through the opening and is typically soldered to the tab.
These soldering operations, particularly given the small size of the tabs, can be quite time consuming. In addition, because of the small size of the tabs, misapplication or improper soldering can readily occur. Moreover, subsequent to soldering, the posts or terminals must be cleaned to assure proper electrical connection between the terminals and the wires. Last, in order to conduct maintenance or to replace to electrical component, the soldered termination be unsoldered or loosened, which is often difficult.
Other methods for terminating these components include crimp, fast-on terminals. However, like soldering, these fast-on terminals are difficult to loosen or disconnect from the component terminal and can result in damage to the terminals or tabs. Moreover, because of the stresses exerted on the terminals during connection and disconnection, the number of mate/unmate cycles is quite limited before terminal degradation.
As a result, it has been found that known termination methods for these motors are quite inefficient and labor intensive. Additionally, these known termination methods can reduce the life of the electrical component due to terminal (tab) degradation.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a connector that readily attaches to known electrical component terminals (tabs), for example, on motors. Desirably, such a connector readily attaches to the electrical tab without the need for soldering or other fusing processes. Most desirably, such a connector reduces the stresses on the component terminals, can be fitted with a wire for readily providing electrical termination, and permits multiple mate/unmate cycles.